Eating with your hands and bringing water on your head!

IST or in-service training is going pretty well, learning lots about funding opportunities, project ideas, and other stuff to be a more efficient volunteer. I am having a great time with my friends. It’s an amazing group, plus enjoying the air conditioning and running water! I have also had dinner with my host family a few times this week and it’s always great to spend time with them. They are amazed at how far along my languages have come, which is encouraging.

I just wanted to write a blog entry about day-to-day life in Benin. A friend from the US asked me if I took my clothes to the Laundromat…so I figured I left out a few things. I get up around 7AM every morning because everyone is up cleaning, cooking, etc…aka making noise. I greet my family and sit around for a while, and then I sweep my house and usually dust off cobwebs and wipe down my tables, it gets super dirty here fast. After a while I get ready for work and shortly head off on my bike. My neighbors don’t have electricity and no one in my village has water except for the nuns. I eat bouille aka porridge at work with some peanuts for breakfast most mornings, sometimes with fruit too. The work schedule is going to change though because as of now I am spending too much time in my office and would rather work on project planning and finding other organizations to collaborate with. I return home in the early afternoon. Sometimes I stop and hang out with people that live along the road to integrate into the community better and practice local language. When I get home I sweep again, read, study French, teach English, French tutoring, practice Fon (local language) with Maman, among other things. I go on walks, hang out at the market, help prepare dinner, listen to the radio. I could go on, but I think that is enough examples.

Laundry and water. Water comes to me on a child’s head and then goes into a large basin. I use that water to cook, bathe, drink, and do laundry. The kids help me with my laundry because I am not allowed to do it myself since my fingers bleed, what a whimp! It takes about an hour to do my laundry for the week we use three large basins and everything gets scrubbed and cleaned twice, then rinsed and put on the line to dry. I wash all my undergarments in the back of my house because it’s taboo to have them on the line. I do the dishes using two bins on with soapy water and one with regular water, hand wash everything and then leave it on the table to dry. And we have latrines; it’s basically like a port-a-potty. If you want more details feel free to email me, haha!

The Beninese have a very high amount of carbohydrates in their diet. Pote (not spelled properly) is sort of their version of mashed potatoes; it’s made with cornflower and water. There are three different types, pote rouge, pote blanche, and pote noir. A moderation on that is akassa, it is fermented pote (not my favorite). I think I have decided I don’t like fermented food in general… Then each is served with a sauce and sometimes a protein (fish, cheese, soy, beef, chicken, eggs). In the southern part of the country where I am there are more choices, in the north it is very different. Most people can afford fruit, which varies based on the season (bananas, mangos, oranges, guavas, pineapple, avocados). In the north there is igname pilee which is awesome and tons of cheese! Two or three women hand mash the yams with these big mallets into these tall wooden basin things. This is served with a peanut sauce and a protein…delicious! It’s easy to buy bread and people have cous cous, pasta, and/or rice for meals as well.

The sauces: basic red sauce (tomatoes, piment (spicy peppers), onions) , sauce legume (greens, tomatoes, onions, piment), ginger red sauce, peanut sauce, and there are other variations. There are many types of means as well. Beans are served with rice or gari (like the leftovers after they take the corn to the mill…I think), it’s really good though! You can get vegetables in the cities and there are supermarkets with “white” people food too. You use milk powder if you want milk, some villagers have their own animals for meat consumption, and many have private gardens as well. People use lots of oil and lots of salt when they cook. There is a variety of street food available at all times. Tons of fried stuffà fried balls of dough, fried bananas, fried yams, fried manioc (another carb, similar to a potato), etc. Cooking happens over wood or coal fires and in the cities some people have gas. I eat most meals with the family in my concession and cook once in a while for them and myself. I have made macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, cakes, and banana bread for example. It’s hard to cook for Beninese because they are very picky so I am cautious about what I cook. I could go on and on. Again questions, just ask.

Transportation throughout the country is really fun (sarcasm—except I really do like the motos)! There are hardly any paved roads, so travel time depends on whether or not it is the dry or rainy season. For short travel distances people travel by moto. They are motorcycles and you have a driver, you have to discuss the price or haggle. Oh yes you have to haggle prices pretty much all the time, not my favorite thing to do. Then you take bush taxis, 16-20 passenger buses or the large commuter buses for longer distances. A bush taxi—there are 7 place taxis and 9 and up place taxis. Compared to the US a compact 4 door car is normally a 7 place. There is the driver two people share the front seat and 4 people are crammed in the back. There are not really enforced driving rules, it can be kind of scary, and I’m surprised there are not more accidents. Animals, food and other baggage are tied to the top, put in the back, tied to motos, carried by hand on moto, among other ways. Travel can be slow and frustrating, unless you have one of those white, big, 4 wheel drive SUVs. For example my post is about 15 miles to Cotonou the commercial capital and most days it takes about an 1.5 hours and it has taken up to 3 hours before…crazy huh?!

There’s a bit more detailed information about my life in Benin…I hope you enjoyed it. I also hope the holiday season is going well for everyone and wish you the best! Talk to you soon. Hugs and kisses!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!! I didn’t do much on the actual day, had dinner with my post mate, vegetable and tofu stirfry and a tomato and cucumber salad, it was quite delicious. But today 15 other volunteers and I are getting together and having a potluck style Thanksgiving lunch, which I am really excited about. Today I am also going to teach English at an ONG for refugees of other Sub-Saharan African countries, I’m a little nervous, but hey I would say I know English pretty well, haha!

The past month has really flown by. I had a good post visit with my APCD, but nothing really exceptional to report. I helped with two eye screenings one here in Zinvie and the other in Houegbo where a married couple is posted and a friend from my training class, Satin, is also nearby. Her village is gorgeous! I am taking anyone that comes to visit to see it, it was breathtaking. I think she is at one of the most rural posts in Benin. We tested over 300 children between the two screenings, so I would say it was a success. The next thing is working with an eye doctor in Cotonou and a really neat organization called Mercy Ships to get them a professional screening and glasses. Mercy Ships is basically a hospital on a boat that ports at developing countries for around 10-12 months and performs a variety of medical treatment from dental care to orthopedic surgery. They will be in Benin starting next March I think and I am planning on sending an email to see if I can volunteer for a week or so.

Last weekend there were a couple of days of voodoo festivals in my village. I went with my family to watch and it was amazing. The costumes were gorgeous and the music and dancing were spectacular, I had such a great time. I am sad because one of the big Muslim celebrations will be when I am in Porto Novo for my in-service training so I will miss it. 2 weeks of training—Dec. 7^th to Dec. 21^st—that’s a long time! On the plus side I get to see all the other Health and Environment volunteers, my host family, and stay in a hotel. We are staying at the Songhai Center which is a really interesting self-sustaining agricultural thing. I don’t know that much about it at this point, but I’m sure I will by the end of two weeks.

All my love and Happy Holidays! Go Tarheel Basketball and Football!!!

Obama Won!

What a fantastic week! A bunch of other volunteers as well as some of the people that work in the office and I watched the election results until 7AM. During Obama's speech there was a lot of clapping and tears of happiness. I am still in awe of the results and I am so proud of my home state-- my absentee ballot probably counted! The entire country of Benin and continent of Africa is celebrating with the US right now. It is amazing and exciting how much support Obama has throughout the world. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Is there really a rat in my room?!

I completed my community study that is due at the IST in December. It was this assignment to help us get to know our communities. We had to ask people a variety of questions about things like culture, work, education, and income. There were over 100 questions so it took quite a bit of time. It was a little more cumbersome for me because I live and work in two different villages so I had to get information for both. I made a powerpoint too which is pretty sweet! There are some cool features in the office ‘07 software that I hadn’t played with yet. Yes I had quite a bit of time on my hands as you can imagine, so I went a little overboard with it, but whatever. The IST is in Parakou from I think the 8^th or 9^th of December to about the 19^th. I am excited about it because all of the Health and Environment volunteers will be together. Those two groups were together for our training in Porto Novo so many of my good friends are either Health or Environment volunteers. I can’t wait to see everyone and hear how people are doing. The only downside is how far away Parakou is…it is in the Northern part of Benin so for me it will be a really long trip. I will take a big bus though, not a bush taxi. I can barely stand being in a bush taxi for the short journey to Cotonou, I am such a baby…haha! Anyway it will be nice to see a different part of Benin.

Village is great and so is work. I finally splurged on a fan, it was necessary. It’s in the 90s everyday, at least, and after I get off my bike I think I continue to sweat for almost an hour. My director and I had a nice talk last week about our goals; mine and hers. Thursday mornings we do immunizations and baby weighing. And at the beginning of next year I am going to begin doing 15 minute formations too. I already have 21 different health topics written up in French—again—lots of time when you stay home sick, haha! Then we are going to start working on a calendar to do larger formations in the surrounding villages, there are 11 total and that’s not including the ones on the water. The president of my clinic and a couple of the girls I work with live there so they really want me to go there too. Also I am going to keep researching and probably write a grant to start a Moringa project. Moringa is a plant that grows very easily here—for all of you wondering how I am going to grow something, lol!…it has great nutritional properties and is good for recuperation too. My director and I want to get that going and sell it as powder in the pharmacy. We also spoke about doing some cooking demonstrations. I’m sure I am leaving some things out, but that’s a lot. Oh I also want to talk to the director of the CEG (middle/high school equivalent) about teaching a computer class once a week. They have computers, but are not using them…just one of my ideas for a secondary project.

Things at my house and with my concession are going well. I have been running a bit and been back and forth sick, but nothing too serious. I made my neighbors banana bread and cornbread, good stuff! I have made the banana bread a bunch of times now, it’s delicious. There are more kids here now for school, 5 young ones—4-15 in age. They keep me company so I don’t have to buy a dog or cat, haha. Oh and they help me with pretty much everything, in exchange they get to play with my ipod and stuff. We play around all the time and help each other with the many languages we are all trying to learn; they are so much fun! They are also really good at killing all the animals I find in my house too, like spiders, lizards, the other night a rat, yes a rat! I freaked out, the whole family came out because I yelled so loud, then I ran out of the house and across the yard while they caught it and killed it. And I have been getting teased ever since…haha!

I am in Cotonou right now for a meeting to review my training group. I was chosen to represent health because I am so close to the bureau. I don’t mind I am happy to be here on Election Day…constant access to the internet! I bet it’s crazy in the US right now. Plus I received my first packages and some mail!!! Thanks mom! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween—I bought myself a bit of candy and explained the holiday, I’m not sure they got it, but oh well it’s the effort that counts anyway. I hope all is well and GO OBAMA!

First month!

So things are going well at post. It’s weird not having everyone else around like before, but I am getting used to it. I do have a post mate so that’s made things easier, at least sometimes I am able to speak English. The family who lives in my concession is really great and they have been cooking dinner for me quite a bit. I have been giving them rice, pineapples and other stuff as a thank you. It is different living in village, but I like it. My house is nice and cozy. I have a bed, desk, and table so far, it is bizarre having your furniture made specifically for you, but awesome! The market is every 4 days, I even found a woman that paints my toenails for me for 50 francs, which is equivalent to about 15 cents in US money. Pretty sweet huh?! It is difficult to get vegetables, but a lot of fruits are in season now for example—bananas, oranges, papaya, and pineapple. I am enjoying my village and am learning quite a bit of the local language too.

I have been working Monday thru Friday at the clinic. It’s about a 20 minute ride each way on my bike. The road is pretty good and it goes by a lot of farms which is beautiful to look at everyday. One of the stilt villages is nearby and I can see it on the ride to work every morning. Maybe next week I will go for a ride with my post mate and check out the villages up close. Everyone that works at the clinic has been great so far. My first week I was presented with my office, it was a production. My homologue was there as well as the president of the ONG, treasurer, secretary, and a few others. My office is nice and it’s sort of crazy and hard to believe, but I have a computer in there. Now all I have to do is try to get the internet somehow…haha! Maybe I can work with one of the business/ICT volunteers to get that hooked up, yeah right! So the computer, my boss and the others asked me to work with it as a secondary project, but I’m not sure exactly what she wants me to do with it. I also saw my first baby being born, wow, what an experience! And now I have seen a lot, still amazing every time. My boss told me she is going to give me a book to read about being a sage femme and then when I am finished I am going to do the deliveries myself. I just laughed at her.

I am trying to take it easy right now, get to know the area. I went to the Catholic Church last Sunday, it was nice, and it’s a great way for my village to get to know me. I also have gone to the nuns’ house. They are sweet and my post mate is close with them. The boy that lives in my concession is a sweetheart and helps me with my laundry and brings me my water and stuff. He’s great and we pretty much do everything together when I am not at work. I am happy to be in a concession and not a private house because it makes me feel a lot safer. I am in Cotonou right now hanging out with another volunteer and some friends for the day. I had to go to the bank and do some other errands, like buy a fan. For some reason my bedroom is super hot! I have also had more time to read and listen to the radio. I get the BBC so I have an idea of what is going on in the world, usually listen to it in the morning and night, but the night is better because it’s more often in English. I don’t mind listening to the news in French it just takes a lot less brain power when it’s in English, haha! Lots of stuff is going on between the hurricanes, the election, and the economy. I hope everyone is doing ok! Talk to you soon and all my love!

Off to Post!

I leave for post today! I swore in on Friday at the Presidential Palace or the Congressional Palace or something. It was a huge event since it is the 40^th Anniversary of Peace Corps Benin. I had a great time and it was awesome getting to hang out with all of the other volunteers before we all depart for post. I think everyone ended up passing their language exam and was able to swear in, which is fantastic! 55 people swore in and we started with 64, so yeah I don’t know if that’s good or not. It seems like a high number of people left to me, but I have never done this before so what do I know. My family also came to the ceremony and I sang on stage too. It was also nice to see the language facilitators and take pictures with them before leaving.

I have been buying some necessities this past weekend for post with some friends and my sister. She has been so helpful with the price haggling at market. It is difficult to me because I don’t have any experience, but we ended up getting some great deals. It is also difficult because they always give me a higher price since I am a foreigner. I also carried about a 6 foot mat on a motorcycle all the way home, it was hilarious. People always stare at me, but they were really staring at me when I was carrying things on the moto like a Beninese person!

We had a going away/goodbye party on Saturday, which was fun. The rest of the night I hung out with my family. Sunday I packed and cleaned all morning, ran a few last minute errands, and then my family, a friend and I went to a ceremony. My mom got us matching tissue for the party, it was so sweet. She also got me another outfit, some adorable plates for my house, a really nice washing basin, and two buckets as well. It was so thoughtful of them to get my gifts before I left for village. They really enjoyed the gifts I gave them and the cake I made last weekend too. It is nice to know that they will be there for me if I need to get away, advice, or someone to talk to for the next two years. I can’t say how lucky I was to have them host me for my time in Porto Novo during training.

I am excited and anxious to leave today. I don’t have any furniture so unpacking will be really easy! I did get some movies from a friend and some books too to relieve any bouts of boredom, but I think my homologue wants me to work this week. The blogs will be less frequent so don’t get too worried about me! I will probably go to Cotonou about once a month because we aren’t supposed to leave our posts much for the first three months. Hope all is well back home!

Bon courage!

Passed the French test

Today I passed my French test, moved up two more levels, which means yes I can swear in! I am very relieved and more excited about the ceremony now. The tailor came the Tuesday night to measure two friends and I for the dresses. I picked out a pretty cool design from one of her magazines. Hopefully it will look that awesome when I get it on Monday night.

I went to post! It was wonderful. My house is tiny. Two rooms the front room will be the salon and the second my bedroom. I have a little area in the back for cooking and a flushing toilet and shower—which means a bucket shower for all of you who are not familiar with showers in Benin. That’s not fair-- so people do have running water showers, but most people use the shower or douche for a bucket shower. So I fill a bucket with water, rinse, wash, rinse. It’s a great way to cool off after a hot day and most people here take 2 or 3 a day. I am on the one to two a day routine right now. I also have a porch with an awesome bench where I enjoyed a few naps during my post visit. I have a latrine if I don’t feel like using the toilet and pouring water down it to flush. I enjoy the latrine, less work and cleaning for me. My house is adorable though and the walls are painted CAROLINA BLUE! A volunteer who just finished her service and went to UNC gave me a UNC poster, which will be the first thing I put up! I live in a concession with one other family. There are three younger children living there, 10, 11 and 15, I think we will become fast friends, and then the others are in other areas for school and work. The major issue is that most people speak Fon there so it will be difficult at first to communicate, but not a problem. Local language learning will be interesting.

The clinic is great it’s in a small village, I would say about a 30 minute bike ride. I have three homologues and they are all sage femmes. The clinic focuses on pre and post natal consultations, family planning and delivering babies. I held a four hour old baby first thing when I arrived. Everyone seemed nice and the aides were also very sweet and close to my age. My homologue is the wife of the king of the village so she is pretty stylish. She said I am one of her daughters now, which was comforting to hear. I am excited about the possibilities for work and the wonderful relationships I will develop. Overall I am very happy with my post. My post mate was on vacation in the US so did not get to spend time with her, but I did meet her for a few minutes right before she left

Saturday we are going on an excursion to Grand Popo, which is a beach and tourist spot. I am excited to get out, but I hope I do not get as sunburned as my last venture to the beach. The swear-in ceremony is next Friday and our host families are coming among other big wigs from PC-Washington. The president of Benin will also be in attendance, tentatively he is hosting a dinner for us that evening in Cotonou. It should be quite an event with lots of singing and dancing.

Stage is almost over...hope all is well stateside! Heard the running mates are being chosen, bet that's fun!

A la plage

This past Sunday I went to the beach in Cotonou with some friends. It was a blast! The sun was a little more powerful than I thought it would be, hence I am sun-burned. What a surprise!? I did put sunscreen on my face. We rented this straw covered structure I don’t know the name for it and brought a picnic. We had quite a nice lunch and lots of sodas, beer and wine. It was nice to be out of school for an entire day. We didn’t really swim, but we got our feet wet. The PC doctors don’t want us to swim because of the obvious reasons, and the water seemed to have quite a strong current. I lost one of my flip-flops for a few minutes, then my friend found it down the beach. After we walked off the beach to meet the taxi there was an ice cream and pastry shop—like real ice cream. It was amazing!

Last week we did some interesting things. We went to a school and did a presentation on nutrition, it was difficult with the age group, but it went well overall. We played hangman! I was petrified to speak French; there were over 70 kids in the classroom, haha! For cross-cultural class different groups visited different religious structures. For example: Muslim, Animists, Christian Celeste…I went to the Fetishers! It was really fun. I went to a few ceremonies on Saturday—again anniversaries for the dead. I also visited a friend’s house for a little dance party with her family and friends and when we were leaving we saw the Zembedo (sp?). I am pretty sure it is technically a religion. It is a very old practice where men put on haystacks and patrol the streets at night. Now it is only Saturday nights it starts between 10 and midnight. It’s similar to neighborhood watch or police. As soon as we pulled out we saw them. It is extremely bad for women to see them…myself and two other staggieres ducked under a sheet in the backseat and everything was okay. I was pretty scared. My host mom told me there is more to come because Zinvie is full of voodoo practices.

Last week we did another educational session for a village, this time about family planning. It went really well and after that we did a cooking demonstration with enriched bouille—which is similar to porridge. It is oftentimes eaten for breakfast in Benin. It’s amazing to watch what goes into making every meal when you do not have the convenience of the things in the US, like a really sharp knife!

Tomorrow I am leaving for my post visit with my homologue—from Wednesday to Sunday. I met her yesterday…she is seven months pregnant with her first daughter. She is a sage femme at the health center I will be working with in Yevie. She told me I have 2 homologues, herself and another sage femme. They rotate work weeks and she already told me she assumes I want the weekends off. I think that sounds like a good idea. So yes, tomorrow night I will actually be sleeping in my house! I am so excited!!! I will take lots of pictures. She did tell me my house is all set with the electricity too which is a plus. My post mate is in the US right now on vacation, but she will be back when I arrive the first or second week in September. Only a little over 2 weeks until swear in, time is flying!

Hope all is well!

A la prochain!

Tech Visit

Two other stages and I went to Dassa for our technical visit. We stayed with a volunteer who was also one of our trainers for staging. It was really relaxing and nice to get out of the city. We went to a village and did baby weighings on Thursday, made some bouille (porridge) at the neighbor's house and went hiking among other things. Dassa is in the Zou/Collines department and is very beautiful with small mountains and lots of green. It was also about 10 degrees cooler at her place than it is in Porto Novo. Her house was really cozy and it was great to be able to cook for myself.

Now I am back in Porto Novo for a few weeks until my post visit in Zinvie. Tomorrow my mom's family is having another party and my friend Mani is going with...I am borrowing one of my mom's outfits for the event! Then back to the school grind, halfway through staging and all the volunteers said it is the worst part.

Au revoir!

Ouidah

The whole group took an excursion to Ouidah. Ouidah is one of the voodoo capitals in Benin. We went to the sacred forest, the python temple, the history museum and then we went to the “point of no return.” It was quite a moving day. The point of no return is where many of the slaves left West Africa for the Americas. The sacred forest included a lot of voodoo statues and sculptures that are meaningful in the Beninese culture. The python temple houses at least 50 pythons, these serpents are very sacred. They sacrifice animals there to the pythons among other rituals. I had one of the pythons around my neck. I will try to post the picture soon.

Tomorrow we leave for our technical visits until Saturday evening. I am going to Dassa which is in the Zou/Collines department. It is about 5 hours north of Cotonou. My first traveling experience in a bush-taxi, I can’t wait! Dassa is supposed to be extremely beautiful and we were told to bring some comfy clothes that are appropriate for hiking. I am going with two others to stay with one current volunteer. Friday…August 1^st is Benin’s Independence Day. Apparently the whole country has a party, it should be a good time.

We went to a village yesterday afternoon a little outside of Porto Novo. We had meetings with the majority of the village to do a community map, daily schedule and seasonal calendar. It was really fun and something different. It was nice to finally be in a village. We have been kind of spoiled thus far with what we have seen of Benin. The people of Porto Novo and Cotonou are significantly wealthier than the rest of the country. It was hard working with a translator, especially since his French accent wasn’t anything that I was used to. I survived and it was good practice for me and everyone else in my group.

Today was the first day I bargained for a moto! It went really well. I was scared at first, but I did everything by myself in French…the price, the directions, etc. It was wonderful. I did it twice today—on the way to school and the way back. Well I have to get packing for the rest of the week. Hope all is well!

Au revoir!

Au Village

Today was my second language interview. I think I have made huge strides since my last one where I said I don’t know and I don’t speak French over and over to my interviewer. It seemed like it went pretty well, I mean I think it could only go up from there. I’m sure you can all imagine me uncomfortably laughing and just repeating I don’t speak French, it was amusing.

Last Saturday we went to a village and did our first baby weighing. It was packed we weighted 85 babies from 1 month to 6 years. It was super fun, but completely unorganized. Plus we had translators because most of the women spoke Fon (spl?) which is a local language. This week has gone by fast so far, we find out our posts tomorrow—extremely excited! Apparently we are going to the recreation center where we have class once a week. We will be drawing a map of Benin, then after we each find out our post we go and stand on the map! We also have new PCVTs this week which are just as amazing and nice as the last ones were. One of them went to UNC so we chatted about some people we both knew and about good ole’ Carrboro. Unfortunately she is a second year so she leaves at the end of August. Her parents sent her dvd’s of the ACC and NCAA tournaments the past two years…hint hint:).

The party this past Sunday was extremely fun. I have some awesome pictures from it. There were so many people and a live band. My mom has like 30 siblings apparently my grandfather had a more than a few wives. I met my Papa for the first time, he seemed pretty nice, but it was sort of a hectic day. Two of my friends from PC came and we dressed in traditional outfits. I was pretty dehydrated by the end of the day from dancing, etc... I also took a picture with the King of Porto Novo!

I went running last night with my friend Mani’s brothers. I explained to them that I have run like 2 times in the past three months. We still ran for an hour and 15 minutes! We ran from our house all the way to the general assembly building by the grande marche. I know that none of you have any idea what that means, but trust me it’s far. It was a good workout though and I was happy that they accompanied me. They both ran on either side of me since it was already dark outside and the roads aren’t all paved and well sidewalks are sparse. I will say that I slept pretty well last night. I think we are going to make a more regular thing and throw in some soccer and basketball too. Well have to get back to school…2 more hours of French class then nutrition presentations.

Hope all is well with everyone at home! Au revoir.

***Okay so I wrote the earlier part yesterday, but I had some issues at the cyber café and I couldn’t post it. So I got my post!!! I will be living in Zinvie and working in Yevie a village right outside of the city. I am about an hour from Cotonou in the southern part of Benin. I am super excited. I have a post mate who is from PSL 20 the one before me and another person in my PSL is about an hour away in the same department. The people where I am living speak French and the people where I work speak Fon. My counterpart is an NGO + COGES. It is a health clinic with four midwives that offer continuous care. There main goals include maternal and child health and nutrition. There will also be many opportunities for me to do educational seminars. I am extremely happy with my post and I can’t wait to do a site visit.

I also received the results from my language exam. I moved from novice-low to intermediate-low, that is a huge jump. I guess I did really well, but I didn’t think I did that well. Hopefully I can keep up. I was happy with the results overall. I guess I know more than I think. Now we are off to build a garden and get super muddy.

Au revoir!

My First Scorpion!

So I guess I should start with discussing the title. The past few nights at my house have been eventful. I left school on my bike with my friend Mani and the tire was immediately flat. It was already 7:00 because I stayed late for French tutoring, which means it was already getting dark. Which is a problem since we aren't really supposed to be out after dark. So we had to walk the bike home to her house (we only live a street apart) so her brothers could try to fix it. They took it to the bike shop that was conveniently located around the corner. As I turn the corner my little sister is running towards me because my mama had sent her to look for me. Then she stayed and the other one came to look for both of us. It was pretty funny. I didn't get in the house until almost 9:00, needless to say I had to force dinner down because at that point I was so tired I wasn't hungry.

The next night tops that off though. So it rained all day until about 4PM. I got back to the house at about 7:30ish. I went into my room to drop off my backpack before dinner and the tailor was there to measure me for the outfit I am having made for Sunday. To my surprise my roof had leaked and water had gotten in under the door. Therefore all my clothes were soaked! There were probably 5 or 6 items that weren't soaked. So my three sisters, mama and the domestique came in to help me clean up the mess. We had to wash everything and hang it, sweep and mop. Then we brought in bricks to elevate everything. The whole ordeal took a little over 2 hours. I was exhausted and boiling my water before we sat down for dinner and looked up to a scorpion on my wall. Haha it was hilarious. I called Pamey in there and she called mama who promptly took care of it. I'm not sure what she did with it, all I know is that it wasn't in my room anymore! I can't believe I was so calm, but it's not like it was running at me or attacking or anything...whatever!

After that I still had to get measured and design my outfit for the tailor. He probably thought I was crazy. At that point I could barely stand let alone understand French. Then since it's rainy season my clothes got soaked again the next morning. Everything is dry now except for a few things which are hanging in my mama's room since she has a fan. Ha it makes me laugh typing this. I just kept saying thank you and sorry in French, haha!

Last night my mama had me trying on all her traditional outfits--aka Bombas. They were even wrapping the tissue around my head. My sisters were rolling around on the ground laughing. Yesterday my mama cooked lunch for three of my friends and I. Then we all walked down to the water with my sisters to the petit marche. We watched people bringing in fish and got some bons bons for the little ones. We also stopped at the house where people live who are living with AIDS. I met the doctor last week and he is extremely nice and knowledgeable about some of the health work I am interested in doing. There are some crocodiles there and other cool animals. My little sisters really like it and were excited to show my friends.

Sunday afternoon is the 22nd anniversary of my mama's mother's death. She has been preparing for weeks. Yesterday I asked her how many people she was expecting and she said over the whole day probably 1,000!? I think it will be a cross-cultural experience for sure. Yesterday the hair dresser was at the house doing her hair. She wanted me to get braids I said maybe two big ones, but that's as far as I am going at the moment. The weather is similar to NC so the humidity and sweating hasn't been that hard of an adjustment for me. Some of the other trainees have begun getting sick--only about 6 or 7 that I know of, but so far I'm healthy. As I type that I am knocking on wood.

The PCVs warned us about how much your host family will feed you because in Benin it is a good thing to be overweight. It means you are healthy, etc... I explained to my mama in the first few days that in the US that is not a good thing, so I get to serve myself. Hopefully I will not put on 25 lbs. like one of the PCVs did in her first 3 months. The diet here is pretty heavy on starch. I should be fine though. I have been riding my bike for almost an hour a day and I am going to start running in the morning this weekend. I just wanted to get comfortable with my neighborhood first.

Saturday we are going out to a village and giving a presentation about the importance of breastfeeding in French--needless to say I will not be talking much, haha! Then we are practicing baby weighing and growth chart stuff.

I can't wait for Sunday I will have to take a picture of me in the outfit I designed, hopefully it will be what I intended, I was a little tired that night. This tissue aka material I picked out is pretty cool. My mama took me to the grande marche to pick it out the other day. She is the best price haggler ever. She is just a boss...I can't wait until I actually need to get stuff for post, she will be such an asset.

French is coming slowly. I understand a lot already it's just hard for me to respond. I want to say everything perfect the first time and I get confused with Spanish sometimes. I have to just remind myself that it is okay to mess up and have confidence about speaking. It's only been a little over a week of French instruction anyway.

Until next time...Au revoir!

At My Host Family's in Porto Novo

Bonjour!

I am now at my host family's house in Porto Novo. I live with my Mom and 3 sisters in a nice house near the center of town. One sister-Mireille is 18 and then Natacha and Pamela are 7 and 8. My mom is retired and used to work in finance and my dad lives in Togo and works in customs. The house is very nice and I have my own room separate from the rest of the house. This style is popular in Benin, it is called a concession. There is a courtyard where we sit and cook then we eat dinner together at night.

My older sister works during the day as a secretary and my other two sisters are on vacation from school until september so we go on walks everyday during lunch and they help me with my French. My family is being very patient with me because I have to talk to them with my dictionary in hand. But it is coming faster than I expected. I would hope so since I have language class 2 times a day for 4 hours total. I ride my bike to school with another trainee who lives one street over.

Today we went on a walk and met a man on the street probably in his mid-twenties then we went and met his family and had a coke on the porch. He was from Senegal and spoke very good English. My friend Mani and I are going to visit him next weekend so he can speak English to us and we can speak French to him. Great practice!

All of us went to the market with other volunteers and our language facilitators yesterday. What an experience. I will have to write more later. I am doing great and eating extremely well. The local foods are delicious and spicy--just the way I like it! My mom figured out how much I love salad and avocados as well as pineapple so I get to eat that at almost every meal. I have to run for dinner.

Au revoir!

Finally Here!

Bonjour everyone!

I made it safely along with 63 other volunteers. It was a little over a 30 hour journey through Paris. There was a security strike so we were on the tarmac for over 2 hours in Paris, hence I went to sleep:) Anyone surprised? We arrived in Cotonou, Benin at about 10:00PM to about a dozen cheering PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). I am 5 hours ahead of the East Coast. It was quite an experience for everyone between passports and visas and WHO medical cards, woah. I was glad when I finally made it to the fresh air.

We are staying in a hostel in a suburb of Cotonou that is supported by a Catholic ministry. My roommate is great she is an RPCV (returned PCV)--Ukraine. She is very knowledgeable and fun to be around. I have also made many other friends, there are only 18 boys out of 64 people--that's probably good for me though! haha. I had my first day of language training yesterday, thank goodness the facilitator is patient because it's going to be a long nine weeks for her, my French...not so great! I kept answering her in Spanish, she was a little amused.

The other trainees--we can't call ourselves volunteers until we are sworn in on September 4th which is also going to be the 40th anniversary for PC-Benin. We are supposedly having dinner with the president! My APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) interview is in about an hour to speak about where I want to be posted, I'm pretty excited she has an MPH from Johns Hopkins and seems very qualified and approachable.

Today we all came into town and rode the Zemi's or motos, Benin's motorcycle's! I had to haggle the price for a ride to practice, I guess I will have to work on not being such a pushover. It was so fun! I have always wanted to ride a motorcycle in the states and now I will be able to ride them for my means of transportation. Those and my sweet new Trek bike. Benin is one of the only PC countries that PCVs are allowed to ride motos.

Tomorrow we are going to the market to get some things...like I need some shower flip flops. My mom told me to grab some, but I forgot of course. They are only about $.50 though so I think I will be able to afford them.

I am safe and sound and enjoying every part of this experience so far. Wednesday we are going to meet and live with our host families I can't wait. I am not sure about stamps and letters and packages yet. I will have a new address at my post and will send out an email to everyone that is on my email list with any and all contact information.

I hope you all are doing well and I will write more soon-there will always be great things to tell you about, this country is amazing!

My new blog!

I was reluctant to start a blog, but after much consideration it seems like the easiest way for my family and friends to keep in touch with me while I am away in the Peace Corps! I leave two weeks from today on July 1st out of RDU to Philly for staging. I will be there for 3 days then off to Paris and I will land in Cotonou on the 4th of July. I hope you all enjoy, it is going to be an adventure!